Abu Dhabi, Nov 21 (IANS): Skipper Liam Livingstone-led Team Abu Dhabi to 21 runs win over defending champions Northern Warriors in the Abu Dhabi T10 played at Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Livingstone scored 68 runs off 23 balls on Saturday, bludgeoning 35 runs from the penultimate over bowled by Josh Little, ensuring a total of 132/5, which proved too much for the Northern Warriors.
"I'd love to say I was calm going into those final two overs but I couldn't get it out of the middle. I felt a bit rusty at the start but once I got going, I felt in pretty good nick so hopefully I can keep that going as the tournament progresses."
Heroes from the opening match, Paul Stirling (0) and Chirs Gayle (9) failed to fire. Livingstone said the batsmen will have their off days but someone needs to stand up and be counted.
"I think it's nice that most of the batters have already made a contribution and that's going to be key going forward as we're not going to get it right every game but as long as someone stands up in each game then we're going to have a good chance of winning with that batting line-up."
While defending, Marchant de Lange carried his good form with the ball forward with figures of 2 for 6, while Danny Briggs (2 for 15) and Naveen-ul-Haq (2 for 20) made sure Northern Warriors pulled up short on 111/7 from their 10 overs.
Livingstone said the team composition is perfect for the shortest format of the game.
"The combinations that we're using are perfect and the lads are getting used to bowling in different situations," he added.
"Naveen's been brilliant bowling at the death in both games, Briggsy's bowled really well and Marchant has taken wickets again today and not gone for many runs so it's perfect. I think we've got a great bowling unit and still have lads to bring in as well, with a lot of quality on the bench which we're going to need with games pretty much every day."
In other matches of the triple-header, Andre Russell (17-ball 43) and Tom Moores (17-ball 47) with an unbeaten 94-run partnership took Deccan Gladiators to 24 runs victory over Chennai Braves.
Delhi Bulls made heavy weather chasing 70 runs but defeated Bangla Tigers by 6 wickets. Adil Rashid (2 for 6) was the pick of the bowlers.
Brief scores:
Team Abu Dhabi 132/5: Liam Livingstone (68 not out). Northern Warriors: 111/7 Rovman Powell (42) Marchant De Lange (2 for 6)
Deccan Gladiators: 146/3 Tom Moores (47 not out), Andre Russell (43 not out), Munaf Patel (1 for 20). Chennai Braves: 122/4 Angelo Perera (60), Ravi Bopara (51), Wahab Riaz (2 for 16)
Bangla Tigers 69/6: Isuru Udana (21 not out), James Faulkner (19 not out), Adil Rashid (2 for 6). Delhi Bulls: 71/4 Sherfane Rutherford (27), Eoin Morgan (26 not out), James Faulkner (2 for 9)